I love vintage illustrations..found this one looking for images of pomegranate. The illustrator is Otto Wilhelm, 1885. I never knew pomegranates had such beautiful flowers. This time of year they are one of my very favorite snacks. I’ll be sad when they disappear from the produce section some time next month.

Snacks, oh how you have changed. I was just thinking the other day how snacks have assumed a totally different role in my diet. Pre-Paleo snacks were something that I used to console myself, fill in for meals when I was too busy to stop and make something healthy to eat, or when I planned poorly and ended up starving and roaming the aisles in a convenience store for something to keep me from falling over. Snacks are now something I plan into my daily meals and use to maintain my blood glucose levels. Might not be Super Bowl commercial material, but it works for me.

In order to maintain my blood glucose levels, I find I need to eat about 6 times per day. It does make me seem somewhat focused on food when I have to think about eating 6 different times in a day, but once you establish recipes and menu plans it really isn’t that bad.

My go to list for snacks includes the following:

tree nuts..almonds, cashews being at the top of the list

fresh fruit..this time of year pomegranate is my very favorite, but berries are always a big hit with me too. Pineapple, mango and bananas are great if you prefer sweeter fruits. Dates are also very sweet

Fresh veggies..I’m a big fan of cutting up veggies for grab and go snacking.

Beef jerky-making your own is the best bet as most contain preservatives

Perrier with lime or lemon or fresh berries

Olives-I just ADORE olives

Almond butter or cashew butter..I recently found a great Colorado company called Radiantly Raw..check them out on FB. Their vanilla cashew butter is fantastic AND they are nice people.

Lara Bars-great afternoon treat for me..they are great frozen!! Try not to overindulge though.

If you have a candy dish at work, just try this technique..walk by briskly and think about all the germs in the bowl from people sticking their hands in it..luckily for me the one at work here has chocolate in it and I’ve never been a fan of chocolate. If, however, we had a block of cheese or an open bag of chips available I might have to exert a little more will power. I think most people are either in the sugar or the salt category when it comes to snacks. On Whole30, we are taught to break those patterns and learn to eat simply to eat and not to fulfill cravings. I find it’s easier to break old patterns when I do maintain my blood glucose levels and stay properly hydrated.

Yesterday was the day I finally felt as if I owned my life again. I own a business on Etsy and do several craft shows each Fall so when the holiday season begins in September that takes over my life. Until January I typically succumb to a cold or two, function on minimal sleep buoyed by multiple doses of caffeine, and the energy I create around me is chaotic and out of balance. Even though I astonish myself with what I can accomplish, I am under considerable stress and never have time for the things which bring balance and joy to my life.

Call it an epiphany if you like, but I’ve finally had enough. With some great insight and coaching from family and friends, I’ve given considerable thought to how to break that stressful pattern. When September rolls around next year I will have an inventory ready for my holiday buyers. In October, I will have time to rake my leaves. In November I will enjoy the third birthday of my beautiful grandtwins, mail out my holiday orders, and have all my items tagged and inventoried for the craft shows. By December, my house will look, smell and feel like Christmas homes I envy in the magazines. I will build joyful things like going to the gym CONSISTENTLY, taking time for hiking thru the woods to enjoy the fall transitions, hanging out with friends, visiting family and decorating the house for the holidays into my routine. During holiDAZE past my mom used to tell us..Ok I’m at that part of the song where they say..fall on your knees. I now understand what she meant, but I no longer want to participate.

I’ve already started working on my inventory for next season and will be adding more specific ideas at our goal setting session at CrossFit Continuum this weekend..can’t wait. Planning always helps to sharpen my focus when I give into it, and with that added dash of the energy that belongs to a person with ADHD, I’ve got this.

So on January 6th, when I started my day off with a spectacular Colorado sunrise and early morning walk with my husky Denton, I felt alive again. Maybe it was the 20F temps, but I was awake to the possibilities of that day.

Since I entered the Whole30 challenge with my son/trainer/mentor Eric Allen and his wonderful girlfriend Krystle on 2 Jan, we’ve been sharing our recipes and menu plans. Krystle and Eric do weekly food prep. I enjoy cooking too, but usually have less time on weekends due to working on Etsy orders, so haven’t tried that yet. I will need to hit the Rubbermaid container aisle before I go full force force on that though. Speaking of Rubbermaid, can someone PLEASE tell me this “where do the lids go?”

I’ve been following a Paleo lifestyle since Feb of 2012, but had to revise and seek out new recipes for Whole30. In doing so I found a yummy looking Nacho recipe on Paleo Grubs. In my mind, recipes are guidelines, so when I didn’t have several of the ingredients on hand last night, I improvised. When you live in the Canadian wilderness, improvising is a honed skill. Every summer, the kids and I would go home and visit my parents who lived year round in the remote wilderness near Atikokan Ontario. Mom always had a stockpile of cans to get them through the winter in case they got snowed in and couldn’t get to town for supplies. In the summers, we would use fresh produce from the garden, fish from the lake and leftover canned supplies, so they could start anew the next season. During the year many of the labels would have fallen off and you would be left with “mystery cans”. Each meal involved using at least ONE mystery can which you somehow had to incorporate into your meal. It was then that I accepted that menus and recipes are mere guidelines ripe for alteration. You were always more thankful to get a can of crushed pineapple to add rather than sardines or even tuna.

The paleo grubs recipe called for ground beef, and I subbed in chicken. I also omitted the canned tomatoes since I was using chicken rather than beef, and used lemon rather than lime juice in my homemade guac. I didn’t have a canned mystery food to add, so this was my dinner plated out. I thought my end creation resembled a tostado more than nachos hence the name change.

I can honestly say this recipe was one of the BEST things I have ever made while cooking Paleo for almost 3 years..insanely good. Short prep time, super healthy, and lots of veggies! Thanks Paleo Grubs!!

SERVES 2, Prep time: 20 min

INGREDIENTS:

2 chicken breast-cubed

1 t cayenne powder or hot pepper spice mix

4 T coconut or ghee

2 fresh roma tomatoes-diced

3 green onions-diced

1 small red bell pepper-diced

1 small yellow bell pepper-diced

1/4 jalapeno diced

1-2 sweet potato, peeled and sliced to be super thin

1 c chopped Romaine lettuce or spinach(with stems removed)

1 fresh tomatillo-diced

2 scoops fresh homemade guacamole-see recipe below

GUACAMOLE RECIPE:

1 fresh avocado, mashed

1 lime or lemon, juiced

2 grinds sea salt

1 grind garlic/pepper mix or 1/4 t garlic salt

DIRECTIONS:

Cook cubed chicken in 2 T ghee, or coconut oil until done

Fry sweet potato slices in 2 T ghee or coconut oil until crispy but not black, turning once or twice..remove from oil and drain excess oils

Layer your plate starting with a base of sweet potato slices, followed by chicken, and fresh veggies. Top with 1-2 scoops of guacamole. Serve immediately!!

In January, 2012 my son (and trainer) Eric Allen asked if I would come to Crossfit Continuum to take some pictures of their athletes doing their WODS. Thru the lens of the camera, I saw something that stirred my inner core and jarred old memories awake. I watched as a group of athletes performed pull-ups, sit ups, and squats while a clock on the wall ticked off time. I’m not sure what left the biggest impression on me that day..whether it was the degree of interaction between trainer and athlete, the intense level of focus on the face of the athletes, the spirit of competition, or the sense of “team” that I recognized from years of being an athlete myself. Whatever it was, it started calling to my soul.

After photographing a few rounds of the WOD, I left the gym, but the gym didn’t leave me. On the drive home, memories of me as a physically fit athlete flooded my brain, and tears spilled down my face. I compared myself to the people I had met that day…young working mothers, a college teacher, former college athletes..all working toward a common goal. Sadly, I realized that the one thing I lacked in common with them was their commitment to health and fitness. A spark of desire ignited that day. I wanted that back in my life. Encouraged by the passion my son Eric had developed for CrossFit and personal training, I sought his help and advice.

The first leg of my recovery began in the kitchen on February 5th. Weighing a shocking 215 pounds, I bid farewell to potato chips, cheese, pasta and bread. I literally hauled the trash can up to the pantry and began throwing things out. Fortunately, I had met Loren Cordain years prior when he gave a guest lecture to our department, so I had an understanding of Paleo basics. Educated as a Biological Anthropologist, the principles of the Paleo lifestyle made sense to me. For the next two months, I tried new recipes, shopped on the outer edges of the store, walked briskly past the bakery, chatted with the butcher about the meat selections, replaced my old spices, and fell in love with avocados, sweet potatoes, and butter again. With each passing week, my clothes became looser, and my confidence more visible. I was averaging a 2 pound per week weight loss by simply converting to the Paleo nutritional lifestyle. Repairing my damaged self-esteem while building a solid nutritional foundation for the rest of my life and the changes to come, I felt in control of my life for the first time in years.

In early March I joined the weight loss challenge work, and committed to weekly weigh-ins along with before and after bod-pod assessments. Imagine my shock when I discovered that even though I had lost 18 pounds by then, I was still considered obese and my body fat percentage was a whopping 40.6%. But rather than let that knowledge defeat me, I allowed it to motivate me. I broke thru my denial and posted my weight, body fat percentage, goals and determination on FB for the whole world to see. I also joined the 30 day Paleo challenge at CrossFit Continuum. Tracking my meals, sleep and hydration levels gave me additional insight into my deficits, and inspired me to correct a few more old habits.

I set a goal to begin CrossFit on 1 April, 2012. By the last week of March I had lost 22 pounds, and with that came the confidence to walk thru the doors of Crossfit Continuum once again, a week ahead of my goal. Walking back into the gym, I was immediately welcomed as a team member by trainers and fellow athletes alike. The first few workouts left me dizzy, nauseous, and exhausted, but filled with a desire to compete..not only against the clock, but against the unhealthy person I had allowed myself to become.

On May 14th, I took a second bod pod assessment. My overall body fat percentage was now down to 38.1%. I was no longer considered obese and I had converted 10 pounds of fat to lean muscle mass. Clean eating and CrossFit were working their magic.

The differences that I feel and see between the 215 pound photographer who saw hope for her life through a different lens and the athlete I’m rediscovering overwhelm me. I’m proud of my fitness and that serves to re-inspire me daily. When I am unable to make it to our box, I hike in the beautiful Colorado mountains, work in my yard or do home WODs. I’ve also added Yoga to my workout schedule.

I’m forever grateful for the athletes, my teammates, who inspired me that January day. I also owe Eric a debt of gratitude for never giving up on me and for continuing to guide me gently in the right direction toward the life I deserved until I was ready to climb over the wall of self-doubt.

Fifty pounds lighter, my focus is no longer on a number appearing on my scale, but on the number of people I can inspire to seek out a healthier lifestyle for themselves and their families. Please allow me to share my recipes, my lifestyle, my triumphs and my lessons learned on my new blog Paleofcourse.